Method, apparatus and system for encoding and decoding a sample adaptive offset data of encoded video data

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a method of decoding sample adaptive offset type index data from a received stream of encoded video data. The method determines an arithmetically encoded first portion of a sample adaptive offset type index value from the stream of video data, and a bypass encoded second portion of the sample adaptive offset type index value when the first portion indicates that the second portion will be present in the stream of video data. The method decodes the sample adaptive offset type index from a combination of the decoded first and second portions of the sample adaptive offset type index values. The sample adaptive offset type index data is used to select one of a plurality of offsets in digital video decoding. Corresponding methods of encoding are also disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/411,010, filed on Dec. 23, 2014, which is a National Phaseapplication of PCT Application No. PCT/AU2013/000706, filed on Jun. 28,2013, all of which claim the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of the filingdate of Australian Patent Application No. 2012203828, filed Jun. 28,2012, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as if fully setforth herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to digital video signalprocessing and, in particular, to a method, apparatus and system forencoding and decoding sample adaptive offset data of video data.

BACKGROUND

Many applications for video coding currently exist, includingapplications for transmission and storage of video data. Many videocoding standards have also been developed and others are currently underdevelopment. Recent developments in video coding standardisation haveled to the formation of a group called the “Joint Collaborative Team onVideo Coding” (JCT-VC). The Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding(JCT-VC) includes members of Study Group 16, Question 6 (SG16/Q6) of theTelecommunication Standardisation Sector (ITU-T) of the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU), known as the Video Coding Experts Group(VCEG), and members of the International Organisations forStandardisation/International Electrotechnical Commission JointTechnical Committee 1/Subcommittee 29/Working Group 11 (ISO/IECJTC1/SC29/WG11), also known as the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG).

The Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) has the goal ofproducing a new video coding standard to significantly outperform apresently existing video coding standard, known as “H.264/MPEG-4 AVC”.The H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard is itself a large improvement on previousvideo coding standards, such as MPEG-4 and ITU-T H.263. The new videocoding standard under development has been named “high efficiency videocoding (HEVC)”. The Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding JCT-VC isalso considering implementation challenges arising from technologyproposed for high efficiency video coding (HEVC) that createdifficulties when scaling implementations of the standard to operate athigh resolutions or high frame rates.

The H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video coding standard presents difficulties forachieving high compression efficiency when coding residual coefficientsto represent video data.

Video data is formed by a sequence of frames, with each frame having atwo-dimensional array of samples. Typically, frames include oneluminance (luma) and two chrominance (chroma) channels. Colourinformation is typically represented using a colour space such as YUV,with Y being the luma channel and UV being two chroma channels. A colourspace such as YUV gives the advantage that the majority of frame contentis contained in the luma channels and a relatively smaller amount ofcontent stored in the UV channels is sufficient to reconstruct a colourframe. The chroma channels may also be down-sampled to a lower spatialresolution with negligible perceptual quality loss.

A commonly used chroma format known as 4:2:0 results in each chromachannel having half the vertical and horizontal resolution. Each frameis decomposed into an array of largest coding units (LCUs). The largestcoding units (LCUs) have a fixed size, with edge dimensions being apower of two and having equal width and height, such as 64 luma samples.A coding tree enables the subdivision of each largest coding unit (LCU)into four coding units (CUs), each having half the width and height of aparent largest coding unit (LCU). Each of the coding units (CUs) may befurther subdivided into four equally-sized coding units (CUs). Such asubdivision process may be applied recursively until a smallest codingunit (SCU) size is reached, enabling coding units (CUs) to be defineddown to a minimum supported size. The recursive subdivision of a largestcoding unit, into a hierarchy of coding units, has a quad-tree structureand is referred to as the coding tree. The subdivision process isencoded in a communications bit-stream as a sequence of flags, coded asbins. Coding units therefore have a square shape.

A set of coding units exist in a coding tree that are not furthersub-divided, occupying leaf nodes of the coding tree. Transform treesexist at the coding units. A transform tree may further decompose acoding unit using a quad-tree structure as used for the coding tree. Atleaf nodes of the transform tree, residual data is encoded usingtransform units (TUs). In contrast to the coding tree, the transformtree may subdivide coding units into transform units having a non-squareshape. Further, the transform tree structure does not require thattransform units (TUs) occupy all of the area provided by the parentcoding unit.

Each coding unit at leaf nodes of the coding trees are subdivided intoone or more arrays of predicted data samples, each known as a predictionunit (PU). Each prediction unit (PU) contains a prediction of a portionof input video frame data, derived by applying an intra-prediction or aninter-prediction process.

Several methods may be used for coding prediction units (PUs) within acoding unit (CU). A single prediction unit (PU) may occupy an entirearea of a coding unit (CU), or the coding unit (CU) may be split intotwo equal-sized rectangular prediction units (PUs), either horizontallyor vertically. Additionally, the coding units (CU) may be split intofour equal-sized square prediction units (PUs).

A video encoder compresses the video data into a bit-stream byconverting the video data into a sequence of syntax elements. A contextadaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) scheme is defined within thehigh efficiency video coding (HEVC) standard under development, using anidentical arithmetic coding scheme as to that defined in theMPEG4-AVC/H.264 video compression standard. In the high efficiency videocoding (HEVC) standard under development, when context adaptive binaryarithmetic coding (CABAC) is in use, each syntax element is expressed asa sequence of bins. Each bin is either bypass-coded or arithmeticallycoded. Bypass coding is used where the bin is equally likely to be 0or 1. In this case, there is no further compression achievable.Arithmetic coding is used for bins which have an unequal probabilitydistribution. Each arithmetically coded bin is associated withinformation known as a ‘context’. Contexts contain a likely bin value(the ‘valMPS’) and a probability state, an integer which maps to anestimated probability of the likely bin value. Creating such a sequenceof bins, comprising combinations of bypass-coded bins andarithmetic-coded bins, from a syntax element is known as “binarising”the syntax element.

In a video encoder or video decoder, as separate context information isavailable for each bin, context selection for bins provides a means toimprove coding efficiency. In particular, coding efficiency may beimproved by selecting a particular bin such that statistical propertiesfrom previous instances of the bin, where the associated contextinformation was used, correlate with statistical properties of a currentinstance of the bin. Such context selection frequently utilisesspatially local information to determine the optimal context.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided amethod of decoding sample adaptive offset type index data from areceived stream of encoded video data. The method determines anarithmetically encoded first portion of a sample adaptive offset typeindex value from the stream of video data. The method determines abypass encoded second portion of the sample adaptive offset type indexvalue when the first portion indicates that the second portion will bepresent in the stream of video data. The method decodes the sampleadaptive offset type index from a combination of the decoded first andsecond portions of the sample adaptive offset type index values. Thesample adaptive offset type index data are used to select one of aplurality of offset types in video decoding.

Desirably the second portion of the sample adaptive offset type indexvalue indicates that band position information is present in thereceived stream of encoded video data. Alternatively the second portionof the sample adaptive offset type index value indicates that edgeoffset information is present in the received stream of encoded videodata.

Preferably the second portion has a fixed length. The length of thesecond portion can be determined by the first portion. In a specificimplementation, a value of the determined first portion indicates thepresence of the second portion. Also, the decoding may comprise decodinga 0 from the first portion to give a sample adaptive offset type indexvalue of 0, and decoding a 1 from the first portion to determine thepresence of the second portion having a binary value, said decoding thencomprising decoding the binary value to give a sample adaptive offsettype index value that is an integer and not 0. For example, when thebinary value is in the range 000 to 111, and the decoded sample adaptiveoffset type index value is in the range 1 to 5.

In another implementation the second portion has a variable length.

In another implementation the first portion comprises multiple bits anda setting of one of those bits indicates the presence of the secondportion.

Also disclosed is a method encoding sample adaptive offset type indexvalueinto a stream of encoded video data. This method comprisesdetermining whether the sample adaptive offset type index value is amost probable value, and binarising a first binary value to anarithmetically coded first portion of a binarised sample adaptive offsettype index value. The method also binarises, where the sample adaptiveoffset type index value is not the most probable value, a second binaryvalue to the arithmetically coded first portion of the binarised sampleadaptive offset type index value, and a unique binary code, dependent onthe sample adaptive offset type index value, to a bypass encoded secondportion of the binarised sample adaptive offset type index value suchthat the first portion indicates that the second portion will be presentin the stream of encoded video data. The method then encodes thebinarised sample adaptive offset type index value into the stream ofencoded video data.

Other aspects are also disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

At least one embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing functional modules of avideo encoder;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing functional modules of avideo decoder;

FIGS. 3A and 3B form a schematic block diagram of a general purposecomputer system upon which the encoder and decoder of FIGS. 1 and 2,respectively, may be practiced;

FIG. 4A is a schematic representation of a largest coding unit (LCU)structure using a binarisation scheme 500 of FIG. 5A;

FIG. 4B is a schematic representation of an LCU structure usingbinarisation 500 with concatenated bypass bins;

FIG. 4C is a schematic representation of an LCU structure using abinarisation scheme 520 of FIG. 5B;

FIG. 4D is a schematic representation of an LCU structure usingbinarisation scheme 540 of FIG. 5C;

FIG. 4E is a schematic representation of an LCU structure using thebinarisation scheme 540 with concatenated bypass bins;

FIG. 4F is a schematic representation of an LCU structure using abinarisation scheme 560 of FIG. 5D;

FIG. 4G is a schematic representation of an LCU structure using abinarisation scheme 580 of FIG. 5E;

FIG. 4H is a schematic representation of an LCU structure using thebinarisation scheme 580 with concatenated bypass bins;

FIG. 4I is a schematic representation of an LCU structure using aconcatenated layout of sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flagelements;

FIG. 5A is structure diagram of the binarisation scheme 500;

FIG. 5B is structure diagram of the binarisation scheme 520;

FIG. 5C is structure diagram of the binarisation scheme 540;

FIG. 5D is structure diagram of the binarisation scheme 560;

FIG. 5E is structure diagram of the binarisation scheme 580;

FIG. 6A is a flow diagram of an LCU encoder;

FIG. 6B is a flow diagram of an LCU SAO information encoder;

FIG. 6C is a flow diagram of sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flagsyntax elements encoder;

FIG. 6D is a flow diagram of sao_type_idx syntax element encoder;

FIG. 6E is a flow diagram of an LCU SAO information encoder;

FIG. 6F is a flow diagram of sao_merge_left_flag syntax elementsencoder;

FIG. 6G is a flow diagram of sao_merge_up_flag syntax elements encoder;

FIG. 6H is a flow diagram of sao_type_idx syntax element encoder;

FIG. 6I is a flow diagram of sao_type_idx syntax element encoder;

FIG. 6J(1) is a flow diagram of the binarisation process forbinarisation scheme 500;

FIG. 6J(2) is a flow diagram of the binarisation process forbinarisation scheme 540;

FIG. 6K is a flow diagram of a binarisation process for the binarisationscheme 580;

FIG. 6L(1) is a flow diagram of a binarisation process for binarisationscheme 560;

FIG. 6L(2) is a flow diagrams of a binarisation process for binarisationscheme 520;

FIG. 7A is a flow diagram of an LCU decoder;

FIG. 7B is a flow diagram of an LCU SAO information decoder;

FIG. 7C is a flow diagram of sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flagsyntax elements decoder;

FIG. 7D is a flow diagram of sao_type_idx syntax element decoder;

FIG. 7E is a flow diagram of an LCU SAO information decoder;

FIG. 7F is a flow diagram of sao_merge_left_flag syntax elementsdecoder;

FIG. 7G is a flow diagram of sao_merge_up_flag syntax elements decoder;

FIG. 7H is a flow diagram of sao_type_idx syntax element decoder;

FIG. 7I is a flow diagram of sao_type_idx syntax element decoder;

FIG. 7J(1) is a flow diagram of a decoding and de-binarisation processfor the binarisation scheme 500;

FIG. 7J(2) is a flow diagram of a decoding and de-binarisation processfor the binarisation scheme 540;

FIG. 7K is a flow diagram of a decoding and de-binarisation process forthe binarisation scheme 580;

FIG. 7L(1) is a flow diagram of decoding and de-binarisation process forthe binarisation scheme 560;

FIG. 7L(2) is a flow diagram of decoding and de-binarisation process forthe binarisation scheme 520;

FIGS. 7M(1) and 7M(2) are flow diagrams of decoding and de-binarisationprocesses for the binarisation scheme 500;

FIGS. 7N(1) and 7N(2) are flow diagrams of the decoding andde-binarisation processes for the binarisation scheme 540; and

FIGS. 7O and 7P are flow diagrams of the decoding and de-binarisationprocesses respectively for the binarisation scheme 580.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION INCLUDING BEST MODE

Where reference is made in any one or more of the accompanying drawingsto steps and/or features, which have the same reference numerals, thosesteps and/or features have for the purposes of this description the samefunction(s) or operation(s), unless the contrary intention appears.

At each transform unit (TU), residual coefficient data may be encodedinto a bit-stream. Each “residual coefficient” is a number representingimage characteristics within a transform unit in the frequency (DCT)domain and occupying a unique location within the transform unit. Atransform unit is a block of residual data samples that may betransformed between the spatial and the frequency domains. In thefrequency domain, the transform unit (TU) encodes the residual datasamples as residual coefficient data. Side dimensions of transform unitsare sized in powers of two (2), ranging from 4 samples to 32 samples fora “Luma” channel, and 2 to 16 samples for a “Chroma” channel. The leafnodes of the transform unit (TU) tree may contain either a transformunit (TU) or nothing at all, in the case where no residual coefficientdata is required.

As the spatial representation of the transform unit is a two-dimensionalarray of residual data samples, as described in detail below, afrequency domain representation resulting from a transform, such as amodified discrete cosine transform (DCT), is also a two-dimensionalarray of residual coefficients. The spectral characteristics of typicalsample data within a transform unit (TU) are such that the frequencydomain representation is more compact than the spatial representation.Further, the predominance of lower-frequency spectral informationtypical in a transform unit (TU) results in a clustering oflarger-valued residual coefficients towards the upper-left of thetransform unit (TU), where low-frequency residual coefficients arerepresented.

Modified discrete cosine transforms (DCTs) or modified discrete sinetransforms (DSTs) may be used to implement the residual transform.Implementations of the residual transform are configured to support eachrequired transform unit (TU) size. In a video encoder, the residualcoefficients from the residual transform are scaled and quantised. Thescaling and quantisation reduces the magnitude of the residualcoefficients, reducing the size of the data coded into the bit-stream atthe cost of reducing the image quality.

After performing the residual transform, a quantization process isperformed. The purpose of the quantization process is to achieve ahigher compression ratio by reducing the precision of the magnitude ofthe residual coefficients. This reduction in magnitude precision is alossy process and thus has an impact on visual quality. The level ofprecision reduction is controlled by a quantization parameter (QP). Thehigher the value of the parameter the more visual quality is affected.

After quantization, in some video coding arrangements, a sample adaptiveoffset (SAO) filtering is applied to the frame data and SAO offset datacollected by the encoder. SAO data contains information aboutdifferences in pixel value distribution between the original image andimage reconstructed after quantization. SAO data is then binarized,encoded and transferred to decoder. The decoder may use SAO data toimprove visual and objective quality of the reconstructed frame.

The high efficiency video coding (HEVC) standard under development isseeking to achieve a high efficiency compression of video data.Estimation and statistical data analysis may be used to achieve highefficiency compression of video data. The high efficiency video coding(HEVC) standard under development is seeking to encode or decode videodata at high bit-rates. The context adaptive binary arithmetic coding(CABAC) scheme employed in the high efficiency video coding (HEVC)standard under development supports an ‘equal probability’ mode ofoperation referred to as ‘bypass coding’. In this mode, a bin is notassociated with a context from the context model, and so there is nocontext model update step. In such a mode, multiple adjacent bins may beread from a bit-stream in parallel, provided each bin is bypass codedwhich increases throughput. For example, hardware implementations maywrite/read groups of adjacent bypass coded data in parallel to increasethe throughput of encoding/decoding the bit-stream.

One aspect of binarisation is selection of contexts to use for codingsyntax elements corresponding to individual flags. One flag may use morethan one context. Determining which context should be used for aparticular instance of a flag depends on other already availableinformation and is known as ‘context modelling’. Context modelling is aprocess whereby a context that most accurately represents thestatistical properties of the present instance of the flag is selected.For example, frequently the value of a flag is influenced by the valuesof neighbouring instances of the same flag, in which case a context canbe selected based on the values of neighbouring instances of the flag.Due to the majority of frame information being contained in the lumachannel, context modelling frequently uses separate contexts for theluma channel versus the chroma channels. However, contexts are typicallyshared between chroma channels, as the statistical properties of the twochroma channels are relatively similar.

The high efficiency video coding (HEVC) standard under development isseeking to achieve a high efficiency compression of video data.Estimation and statistical data analysis may be used to achieve highefficiency compression of video data. The high efficiency video coding(HEVC) standard under development is seeking to encode or decode videodata at high bit-rates. The context adaptive binary arithmetic coding(CABAC) scheme employed in the high efficiency video coding (HEVC)standard under development supports an ‘equal probability’ mode ofoperation referred to as ‘bypass coding’. In this mode, a bin is notassociated with a context from the context model, and so there is nocontext model update step. In such a mode, multiple adjacent bins may beread from a bit-stream in parallel, provided each bin is bypass codedwhich increases throughput. For example, hardware implementations maywrite/read groups of adjacent bypass coded data in parallel to increasethe throughput of encoding/decoding the bit-stream.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing functional modules of avideo encoder 100 according to the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is aschematic block diagram showing functional modules of a correspondingvideo decoder 200 according to the present disclosure. The video encoder100 and video decoder 200 may be implemented using a general-purposecomputer system 300, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B where the variousfunctional modules may be implemented by dedicated hardware within thecomputer system 300, by software executable within the computer system300, or alternatively by a combination of dedicated hardware andsoftware executable within the computer system 300.

As seen in FIG. 3A, the computer system 300 includes: a computer module301; input devices such as a keyboard 302, a mouse pointer device 303, ascanner 326, a camera 327, and a microphone 380; and output devicesincluding a printer 315, a display device 314 and loudspeakers 317. Anexternal Modulator-Demodulator (Modem) transceiver device 316 may beused by the computer module 301 for communicating to and from acommunications network 320 via a connection 321. The communicationsnetwork 320 may be a wide-area network (WAN), such as the Internet, acellular telecommunications network, or a private WAN. Where theconnection 321 is a telephone line, the modem 316 may be a traditional“dial-up” modem. Alternatively, where the connection 321 is a highcapacity (e.g., cable) connection, the modem 316 may be a broadbandmodem. A wireless modem may also be used for wireless connection to thecommunications network 320.

The computer module 301 typically includes at least one processor unit305, and a memory unit 306. For example, the memory unit 306 may havesemiconductor random access memory (RAM) and semiconductor read onlymemory (ROM). The computer module 301 also includes an number ofinput/output (I/O) interfaces including: an audio-video interface 307that couples to the video display 314, loudspeakers 317 and microphone380; an I/O interface 313 that couples to the keyboard 302, mouse 303,scanner 326, camera 327 and optionally a joystick or other humaninterface device (not illustrated); and an interface 308 for theexternal modem 316 and printer 315. In some implementations, the modem316 may be incorporated within the computer module 301, for examplewithin the interface 308. The computer module 301 also has a localnetwork interface 311, which permits coupling of the computer system 300via a connection 323 to a local-area communications network 322, knownas a Local Area Network (LAN). As illustrated in FIG. 3A, the localcommunications network 322 may also couple to the wide network 320 via aconnection 324, which would typically include a so-called “firewall”device or device of similar functionality. The local network interface311 may comprise an Ethernet™ circuit card, a Bluetooth™ wirelessarrangement or an IEEE 802.11 wireless arrangement; however, numerousother types of interfaces may be practiced for the interface 311.

The I/O interfaces 308 and 313 may afford either or both of serial andparallel connectivity, the former typically being implemented accordingto the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standards and having corresponding USBconnectors (not illustrated). Storage devices 309 are provided andtypically include a hard disk drive (HDD) 310. Other storage devicessuch as a floppy disk drive and a magnetic tape drive (not illustrated)may also be used. An optical disk drive 312 is typically provided to actas a non-volatile source of data. Portable memory devices, such opticaldisks (e.g. CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-ray Disc™), USB-RAM, portable, externalhard drives, and floppy disks, for example, may be used as appropriatesources of data to the system 300. Typically, any of the HDD 310,optical drive 312, networks 320 and 322, or camera 327 may for a sourcefor video data to be encoded, or, with the display 314, a destinationfor decoded video data to be stored or reproduced.

The components 305 to 313 of the computer module 301 typicallycommunicate via an interconnected bus 304 and in a manner that resultsin a conventional mode of operation of the computer system 300 known tothose in the relevant art. For example, the processor 305 is coupled tothe system bus 304 using a connection 318. Likewise, the memory 306 andoptical disk drive 312 are coupled to the system bus 304 by connections319. Examples of computers on which the described arrangements can bepractised include IBM-PC's and compatibles, Sun SPARCstations, AppleMac™ or alike computer systems.

Where appropriate or desired, the encoder 100 and the decoder 200, aswell as methods described below, may be implemented using the computersystem 300 wherein the encoder 100, the decoder 200 and the processes,to be described, may be implemented as one or more software applicationprograms 333 executable within the computer system 300. In particular,the encoder 100, the decoder 200 and the steps of the described methodsmay be effected by instructions 331 (see FIG. 3B) in the software 333that are carried out within the computer system 300. The softwareinstructions 331 may be formed as one or more code modules, each forperforming one or more particular tasks. The software may also bedivided into two separate parts, in which a first part and thecorresponding code modules performs the described methods and a secondpart and the corresponding code modules manage a user interface betweenthe first part and the user.

The software may be stored in a computer readable medium, including thestorage devices described below, for example. The software is loadedinto the computer system 300 from the computer readable medium, and thenexecuted by the computer system 300. A computer readable medium havingsuch software or computer program recorded on the computer readablemedium is a computer program product. The use of the computer programproduct in the computer system 300 preferably effects an advantageousapparatus for implementing the encoder 100, the decoder 200 and thedescribed methods.

The software 333 is typically stored in the HDD 310 or the memory 306.The software is loaded into the computer system 300 from a computerreadable medium, and executed by the computer system 300. Thus, forexample, the software 333 may be stored on an optically readable diskstorage medium (e.g., CD-ROM) 325 that is read by the optical disk drive312.

In some instances, the application programs 333 may be supplied to theuser encoded on one or more CD-ROMs 325 and read via the correspondingdrive 312, or alternatively may be read by the user from the networks320 or 322. Still further, the software can also be loaded into thecomputer system 300 from other computer readable media. Computerreadable storage media refers to any non-transitory tangible storagemedium that provides recorded instructions and/or data to the computersystem 300 for execution and/or processing. Examples of such storagemedia include floppy disks, magnetic tape, CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, ahard disk drive, a ROM or integrated circuit, USB memory, amagneto-optical disk, or a computer readable card such as a PCMCIA cardand the like, whether or not such devices are internal or external ofthe computer module 301. Examples of transitory or non-tangible computerreadable transmission media that may also participate in the provisionof the software, application programs, instructions and/or video data orencoded video data to the computer module 301 include radio or infra-redtransmission channels as well as a network connection to anothercomputer or networked device, and the Internet or Intranets includinge-mail transmissions and information recorded on Websites and the like.

The second part of the application programs 333 and the correspondingcode modules mentioned above may be executed to implement one or moregraphical user interfaces (GUIs) to be rendered or otherwise representedupon the display 314. Through manipulation of typically the keyboard 302and the mouse 303, a user of the computer system 300 and the applicationmay manipulate the interface in a functionally adaptable manner toprovide controlling commands and/or input to the applications associatedwith the GUI(s). Other forms of functionally adaptable user interfacesmay also be implemented, such as an audio interface utilizing speechprompts output via the loudspeakers 317 and user voice commands inputvia the microphone 380.

FIG. 3B is a detailed schematic block diagram of the processor 305 and a“memory” 334. The memory 334 represents a logical aggregation of all thememory modules (including the HDD 309 and semiconductor memory 306) thatcan be accessed by the computer module 301 in FIG. 3A.

When the computer module 301 is initially powered up, a power-onself-test (POST) program 350 executes. The POST program 350 is typicallystored in a ROM 349 of the semiconductor memory 306 of FIG. 3A. Ahardware device such as the ROM 349 storing software is sometimesreferred to as firmware. The POST program 350 examines hardware withinthe computer module 301 to ensure proper functioning and typicallychecks the processor 305, the memory 334 (309, 306), and a basicinput-output systems software (BIOS)module 351, also typically stored inthe ROM 349, for correct operation. Once the POST program 350 has runsuccessfully, the BIOS 351 activates the hard disk drive 310 of FIG. 3A.Activation of the hard disk drive 310 causes a bootstrap loader program352 that is resident on the hard disk drive 310 to execute via theprocessor 305. This loads an operating system 353 into the RAM memory306, upon which the operating system 353 commences operation. Theoperating system 353 is a system level application, executable by theprocessor 305, to fulfil various high level functions, includingprocessor management, memory management, device management, storagemanagement, software application interface, and generic user interface.

The operating system 353 manages the memory 334 (309, 306) to ensurethat each process or application running on the computer module 301 hassufficient memory in which to execute without colliding with memoryallocated to another process. Furthermore, the different types of memoryavailable in the system 300 of FIG. 3A must be used properly so thateach process can run effectively. Accordingly, the aggregated memory 334is not intended to illustrate how particular segments of memory areallocated (unless otherwise stated), but rather to provide a generalview of the memory accessible by the computer system 300 and how such isused.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the processor 305 includes a number of functionalmodules including a control unit 339, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU)340, and a local or internal memory 348, sometimes called a cachememory. The cache memory 348 typically includes a number of storageregisters 344-346 in a register section. One or more internal busses 341functionally interconnect these functional modules. The processor 305typically also has one or more interfaces 342 for communicating withexternal devices via the system bus 304, using a connection 318. Thememory 334 is coupled to the bus 304 using a connection 319.

The application program 333 includes a sequence of instructions 331 thatmay include conditional branch and loop instructions. The program 333may also include data 332 which is used in execution of the program 333.The instructions 331 and the data 332 are stored in memory locations328, 329, 330 and 335, 336, 337, respectively. Depending upon therelative size of the instructions 331 and the memory locations 328-330,a particular instruction may be stored in a single memory location asdepicted by the instruction shown in the memory location 330.Alternately, an instruction may be segmented into a number of parts eachof which is stored in a separate memory location, as depicted by theinstruction segments shown in the memory locations 328 and 329.

In general, the processor 305 is given a set of instructions which areexecuted therein. The processor 305 waits for a subsequent input, towhich the processor 305 reacts to by executing another set ofinstructions. Each input may be provided from one or more of a number ofsources, including data generated by one or more of the input devices302, 303, data received from an external source across one of thenetworks 320, 302, data retrieved from one of the storage devices 306,309 or data retrieved from a storage medium 325 inserted into thecorresponding reader 312, all depicted in FIG. 3A. The execution of aset of the instructions may in some cases result in output of data.Execution may also involve storing data or variables to the memory 334.

The encoder 100, the decoder 200 and the described methods use inputvariables 354, which are stored in the memory 334 in correspondingmemory locations 355, 356, 357. The encoder 100, the decoder 200 and thedescribed methods produce output variables 361, which are stored in thememory 334 in corresponding memory locations 362, 363, 364. Intermediatevariables 358 may be stored in memory locations 359, 360, 366 and 367.

Referring to the processor 305 of FIG. 3B, the registers 344, 345, 346,the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) 340, and the control unit 339 worktogether to perform sequences of micro-operations needed to perform“fetch, decode, and execute” cycles for every instruction in theinstruction set making up the program 333. Each fetch, decode, andexecute cycle comprises:

(a) a fetch operation, which fetches or reads an instruction 331 from amemory location 328, 329, 330;

(b) a decode operation in which the control unit 339 determines whichinstruction has been fetched; and

(c) an execute operation in which the control unit 339 and/or the ALU340 execute the instruction.

Thereafter, a further fetch, decode, and execute cycle for the nextinstruction may be executed. Similarly, a store cycle may be performedby which the control unit 339 stores or writes a value to a memorylocation 332.

Each step or sub-process in the processes to be described is associatedwith one or more segments of the program 333 and is typically performedby the register section 344, 345, 347, the ALU 340, and the control unit339 in the processor 305 working together to perform the fetch, decode,and execute cycles for every instruction in the instruction set for thenoted segments of the program 333.

The encoder 100, the decoder 200 and the described methods mayalternatively be implemented in dedicated hardware such as one or moreintegrated circuits performing the functions or sub functions of thedescribed methods. Such dedicated hardware may include graphicprocessors, digital signal processors, application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or one or moremicroprocessors and associated memories.

As described above, the video encoder 100 may be implemented as one ormore software code modules of the software application program 333resident on the hard disk drive 310 and being controlled in itsexecution by the processor 305. In particular the video encoder 100comprises modules 102 to 112, 114, 115 and 151 which may each beimplemented as one or more software code modules of the softwareapplication program 333.

Although the video encoder 100 of FIG. 1 is an example of a highefficiency video coding (HEVC) video decoding pipeline, processingstages performed by the modules 102 to 112, 114, 115 and 151 are commonto other video codecs such as VC-1 or H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. The videoencoder 100 receives unencoded frame data 101 as a series of framesincluding luminance and chrominance samples. The video encoder 100divides each frame of the frame data 101 into hierarchical sets ofcoding units (CUs) which may be represented, for example, as a codingunit (CU) tree.

The video encoder 100 operates by outputting, from a multiplexer module110, an array of predicted data samples known as a prediction unit (PU)120. A difference module 115 outputs the difference between theprediction unit (PU) 120 and a corresponding array of data samplesreceived from the frame data 101, the difference being known as residualdata samples 122.

The residual data samples 122 from the difference module 115 arereceived by a transform module 102, which converts the difference from aspatial representation to a frequency domain representation to createtransform coefficients 124 for each transform unit (TU) in the transformtree. For the high efficiency video coding (HEVC) standard underdevelopment, the conversion to the frequency domain representation isimplemented using a modified discrete cosine transform (DCT), in which atraditional DCT is modified to be implemented using shifts andadditions. The transform coefficients 124 are then input to a scale andquantise module 103 and are scaled and quantised to produce residualcoefficients 126. The scale and quantisation process results in a lossof precision.

The residual coefficients 126 are taken as input to an inverse scalingmodule 105 which reverses the scaling performed by the scale andquantise module 103 to produce rescaled transform coefficients 128,which are rescaled versions of the residual coefficients 126. Theresidual coefficients 126 are also taken as input to an entropy encodermodule 104 which encodes the residual coefficients in an encodedbit-stream 113. Due to the loss of precision resulting from the scaleand quantise module 103, the rescaled transform coefficients 128 are notidentical to the original transform coefficients 124. The rescaledtransform coefficients 128 from the inverse scaling module 105 are thenoutput to an inverse transform module 106. The inverse transform module106 performs an inverse transform from the frequency domain to thespatial domain to produce a spatial-domain representation 130 of therescaled transform coefficients 128 identical to a spatial domainrepresentation that is produced at a decoder.

A motion estimation module 107 produces motion vectors 132 by comparingthe frame data 101 with previous frame data stored in a frame buffermodule 112 configured within the memory 306. The motion vectors 132 arethen input to a motion compensation module 108 which producesinter-predicted reference samples 134 by filtering samples stored in theframe buffer module 112, taking into account a spatial offset derivedfrom the motion vectors 132. Not illustrated in FIG. 1, the motionvectors 132 are also passed as syntax elements to the entropy encodermodule 104 for coding in the encoded bit-stream 113. An intra-frameprediction module 109 produces intra-predicted reference samples 136using samples 138 obtained from a summation module 114, which sums theoutput 120 of the multiplexer module 110 and the output 130 from theinverse transform module 106.

Prediction units (PUs) may be coded using intra-prediction orinter-prediction methods. The decision as to whether to useintra-prediction or inter-prediction is made according to arate-distortion trade-off between desired bit-rate of the resultingencoded bit-stream 113 and the amount of image quality distortionintroduced by either the intra-prediction or inter-prediction method. Ifintra-prediction is used, one intra-prediction mode is selected from aset of possible modes, also according to a rate-distortion trade-off.One intra-prediction mode is selected for each prediction unit.

The multiplexer module 110 selects either the intra-predicted referencesamples 136 from the intra-frame prediction module 109 or theinter-predicted reference samples 134 from the motion compensation block108, depending on a current prediction mode 142, determined by controllogic not illustrated but well-known in the art. The prediction mode 142is also provided to the entropy encoder 104 and as such is used todetermine or otherwise establish the scan order of transform units aswill be described. Inter-frame prediction uses only a diagonal scanorder, whereas intra-frame prediction may use the diagonal scan, ahorizontal scan or a vertical scan order.

The summation module 114 produces a sum 138 that is input to ade-blocking filter module 111. The de-blocking filter module 111performs filtering along block boundaries, producing de-blocked samples153 which, together with the input frame data 101, are input to a sampleadaptive offset (SAO) filter module 151. The SAO filter module 151performs filtering inside the block, producing SAO filtered samples 140and SAO offset data 152. The filtered samples 140 are written to theframe buffer module 112 configured within the memory 306. The SAO offsetdata 152 is passed to the entropy encoder module 104 where the data 152is entropy encoded into the bitstream 113 as discussed below. The framebuffer module 112 is a buffer with sufficient capacity to hold data frommultiple past frames for future reference.

In the video encoder 100, the residual data samples 122 within onetransform unit (TU) are determined by finding the difference betweendata samples of the input frame data 101 and the prediction 120 of thedata samples of the input frame data 101. The difference provides aspatial representation of the residual coefficients of the transformunit (TU). The residual coefficients of a transform unit (TU) areconverted to the two-dimensional significance map.

The significance map of the residual coefficients in the transform unit(TU) is then scanned in a particular order, known as a scan order, toform a one-dimensional list of flag values, called a list of significantcoefficient flags. The scan order may be described or otherwisespecified by a scan pattern, such as that received with the predictionmode 142 from the intra-prediction module 109. The scan pattern may behorizontal, vertical, diagonal or zig-zag.

As described above, the video encoder 100 also comprises an entropyencoder module 104 that implements an entropy encoding method. Theentropy encoder module 104 produces syntax elements from incomingresidual coefficient data (or residual coefficients) 126 received fromthe scale and quantise module 103 and the SAO data 152 received from theSAO module 151. The entropy encoder module 104 outputs encodedbit-stream 113 and will be described in more detail below. For the highefficiency video coding (HEVC) standard under development, the encodedbit-stream 113 is delineated into network abstraction layer (NAL) units.Each slice of a frame is contained in one NAL unit.

There are several alternatives for the entropy encoding methodimplemented in the entropy encoder module 104. The high efficiency videocoding (HEVC) standard under development supports context adaptivebinary arithmetic coding (CABAC), a variant of context adaptive binaryarithmetic coding (CABAC) found in H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. An alternativeentropy coding scheme is known as the probability interval partitioningentropy (PIPE) coder.

For the video encoder 100 supporting multiple video coding methods, oneof the supported entropy coding methods is selected according to theconfiguration of the encoder 100. Further, in encoding the coding unitsfrom each frame, the entropy encoder module 104 writes the encodedbit-stream 113 such that each frame has one or more slices per frame,with each slice containing image data for part of the frame. Producingone slice per frame reduces overhead associated with delineating eachslice boundary. However, dividing the frame into multiple slices is alsopossible.

The video decoder 200 of FIG. 2 may be implemented as one or moresoftware code modules of the software application program 333 residenton the hard disk drive 310 and being controlled in its execution by theprocessor 305. In particular the video decoder 200 comprises modules 202to 208 and 210 which may each be implemented as one or more softwarecode modules of the software application program 333. Although the videodecoder 200 is described with reference to a high efficiency videocoding (HEVC) video decoding pipeline, processing stages performed bythe modules 202 to 208 and 209 are common to other video codecs thatemploy entropy coding, such as H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, MPEG-2 and VC-1.

An encoded bit-stream, such as the encoded bit-stream 113, is receivedby the video decoder 200. The encoded bit-stream 113 may be read frommemory 306, the hard disk drive 310, a CD-ROM, a Blu-ray Disk™ or othercomputer readable storage medium. Alternatively the encoded bit-stream113 may be received from an external source such as a server connectedto the communications network 320 or a radio-frequency receiver. Theencoded bit-stream 113 contains encoded syntax elements representingframe data to be decoded.

The encoded bit-stream 113 is input to an entropy decoder module 202which extracts the syntax elements 220 and SAO offset data 242 from theencoded bit-stream 113 and passes the values of the syntax elements 220to other blocks in the video decoder 200. There may be multiple entropydecoding methods implemented in the entropy decoder module 202, such asthose described with reference to the entropy encoder module 104. Syntaxelement data 220 representing residual coefficient data is passed to aninverse scale and transform module 203 and syntax element data 222representing motion vector information is passed to a motioncompensation module 204. The inverse scale and transform module 203performs inverse scaling on the residual coefficient data to createreconstructed transform coefficients. The module 203 then performs aninverse transform to convert the reconstructed transform coefficientsfrom a frequency domain representation to a spatial domainrepresentation, producing residual samples 224, such as the inversetransform described with reference to the inverse transform module 106.

The motion compensation module 204 uses the motion vector data 222 fromentropy decoder module 202, combined with previous frame data 226 from aframe buffer block 208, configured within the memory 306, to produceinter-predicted reference samples 228 for a prediction unit (PU), beinga prediction of output decoded frame data. When a syntax elementindicates that the current coding unit was coded using intra-prediction,the intra-frame prediction module 205 produces intra-predicted referencesamples 230 for the prediction unit (PU) using samples spatiallyneighbouring the prediction unit (PU). The spatially neighbouringsamples are obtained from a sum 232 output from a summation module 210.The multiplexer module 206 selects intra-predicted reference samples orinter-predicted reference samples for the prediction unit (PU) dependingon the current prediction mode, which is indicated by a syntax elementin the encoded bit-stream 113. The array of samples 234 output from themultiplexer module 206 is added to the residual samples 224 from theinverse scale and transform module 203 by the summation module 210 toproduce the sum 232 which is then input to each of a de-blocking filtermodule 207 and the intra-frame prediction module 205. In contrast to theencoder 100, the intra-frame prediction module 205 receives a predictionmode 236 from the entropy decoder 202. The multiplexer 206 receives anintra-frame prediction/inter-frame prediction selection signal from theentropy decoder 202. The de-blocking filter module 207 performsfiltering along data block boundaries to smooth artefacts visible alongthe data block boundaries. The output of the de-blocking filter module207 together with the SAO offset data 242 from the entropy decoder 202is input to a SAO filter module 241. The SAO filter module 241 performsfiltering inside the block using the SAO offset data 242 to improve bothvisual and objective quality of the image. The output 244 of the SAOfilter module 241 is written to the frame buffer module 208 configuredwithin the memory 306. The frame buffer module 208 provides sufficientstorage to hold multiple decoded frames for future reference. Decodedframes 209 are also output from the frame buffer module 208.

SAO data 242 for the luminance and two chrominance channels in thestream 113 includes the following syntax elements: sao_merge_left_flag,sao_merge_up_flag, sao_type_idx, sao_band_position, sao_offset_abs andsao_offset_sign.

Sao_merge_left_flag is a binary value and is present in the stream 113only if the current LCU is not on the left-most position in the frameotherwise sao_merge_left_flag is assumed to be zero. Thesao_merge_left_flag is coded on a per LCU and per colour channel basisand indicates the derivation of the sao_type_idx, sao_band_position andsao_offset elements the from left neighbour LCU. Syntactically, thesao_merge_left_flag is a binary flag such that:

TABLE 1 sao_merge_left_flag Meaning 0 Not derive from left neighbour LCU1 Derive from left neighbour LCU

Sao_merge_up_flag is a binary value and is present in the stream 113only if the value of sao_merge_left_flag is zero and the current LCU isnot on the topmost position in the frame otherwise sao_merge_up_flag isassumed to be zero.

Syntax element sao_type_idx, representing sample adaptive offset typeindex data, is an integer value in range zero to five inclusive and ispresent in the stream 113 only if sao_merge_left_flag andsao_merge_up_flag values are both zero, otherwise sao_type_idx value isassumed to be zero. Sao_type_jdx indicates the edge offset type of thecurrent coding tree block, and is coded on a per CU and per channelbasis, and describes the following:

TABLE 2 sao_type_idx Edge type 0 Not applied 1 0-degree edge 2 90-degreeedge 3 135-degree edge 4 45-degree edge 5 Band

Traditional video coding approaches use unary CABAC coding having two(2) context models and at worst case six (6) CABAC bins and thefollowing coding for sao_type_idx:

TABLE 3 sao_type_idx value unary code 0 0 1 10 2 110 3 1110 4 11110 5111110

In the above unary coding, the first bin is encoded using the firstcontext model, and all other bins are encoded using the second contextmodel.

Syntax element sao_band_position is an integer value and is present inthe stream only if sao_type_idx value equals five.

Syntax element sao_offset_abs is a sequence of four integer values andis present in the stream only if the sao_type_idx value is not equal tozero.

Syntax element sao_offset_sign is a sequence of four integer values andis present in the stream 113 only if sao_type_idx value equals five.

The inventors have determined that problems exist with binarisation ofthe SAO syntax elements. Sao_type_idx binarisation is suboptimal—unarycoding is useful where the value can have an unknown range ofmagnitudes, whereas truncated unary coding is more efficient where themaximum possible range of magnitudes is known. The inventors have alsodetermined that the value of 0 has probability >0.9, and that othervalues do not significantly influence coding efficiency. Further,experiments by the inventors have shown that the context assignment ofthe sao_merge_left_flag is also suboptimal. Context reduction can leadto coding gains, generally due to correlations between channels.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the inventors proposean alternate binarisation approach for the sao_type_idx element, suchas:

TABLE 4 sao_type_idx value Coding 0 0 1 1000 2 1100 3 1010 4 1001 5 1111

According to this coding, sao_type_idx syntax elements which belong tothe same LCU are merged, so that CABAC and bypass bins are notinterleaved. Also in this coding the first bit represents a single CABACbin, being an arithmetically encoded portion, and the following bitsrepresent bypass encoded data of corresponding bypass bins. For thesao_merge_left_flag, a single context is shared between all channels,and thus the number of context models is reduced from 3 to 1.Preliminary experiments by the inventors have shown this affords acoding gain of −0.1% in random access test conditions, 0.0% in allintra-test conditions. According to this revised binarisation, in theworst case the number of CABAC bins is reduced from 3 to 1, and oneredundant context is removed, thus providing for improved codingefficiency. Preliminary experiments by the inventors show no codingloss. Variations of this coding approach are also described.

A binarisation scheme 500 for syntax element sao_type_idx is describedbelow with the reference to FIG. 5A. The binarisation scheme 500 is onevariation of that provided in Table 4, appreciating that when three bits(giving eight options) are used to encode five values, three of theavailable options will not be used. As such, the approach of Table 4 mayhave up to 6670 (=8*7*6*5*4) variations of which the scheme 500 is butone.

The binarisation scheme 500 includes an arithmetically encoded portion501 and optional bypass-encoded portion 502. Portion 501 is formed ofone binary element 503. The binary element 503 is assigned value “0” forone of the binarised values and “1” for all other values. Usually thevalue “0” is assigned to the element which has the highest estimatedprobability. Portion 502 is present only if the value of element 503 is“1”. Portion 502 is formed of three bypass-encoded binary elements 504,505, 506. The binary elements 504, 505, 506 are assigned a unique threebit binary value for each binarised value which has element 503 equal to“1”. Binary elements 503, 504, 505, 506 may be stored in the stream 113either adjacently one after another or be interleaved with other syntaxelements. An exemplary binarisation 510 for sao_type_idx implements thebinarisation scheme 500. As seen, the example 510 includes a single bitarithmetically encoded first portion 511, which corresponds to thearithmetically encoded portion 501, and fixed length (3 bits)bypass-encoded second portion 512 which corresponds to the bypassencoded portion 502. Here, the size or length of the second portion 512is determined by the first portion 511. The presence of a one value inthe first portion 511 indicates that the bypass encoded portion 512 ispresent. The length of the bypass encoded portion 512 may bepredetermined and known to both the encoder and decoder. Alternatively avalue of the first portion 511 may indicate the length of the secondportion 512, however the first portion 511 is required to be at leasttwo bits in length to encoded different lengths for the bypass encodedsection portion 512. An example would be that an arithmetically encodedvalue of 10 indicates a bypass encoded portion of 3 bits, while anarithmetically encoded value of 11 indicates a bypass encoded portion of4 bits.

A syntax structure 400 of a largest coding unit (LCU) will be describedwith the reference to FIG. 4A.

The syntax structure 400 is formed of a block 401 representing SAOinformation and a block 402 representing LCU structural, residual,prediction and other information. The block 401 contains three blocks403, 404 and 405. Block 403 contains SAO information for the luminancechannel, and blocks 404 and 405 contain SAO information for the twochrominance channels. The blocks 403, 404 and 405 have the samesyntactical structure, so that syntax elements 406 to 411 shown on FIG.4A for the block 403 can be also present in the blocks 404 and 405.Block 406 contains sao_merge_left_flag syntax element. Block 407contains sao_merge_up_flag syntax element. Block 408 containssao_type_idx syntax element binarised using binarisation scheme 500 witharithmetically encoded portion 413 and bypass-encoded portion 414 storedin an order 412. Block 409 contains sao_band_position syntax element.Block 410 contains sao_offset_abs syntax element. Block 411 containssao_offset_sign syntax element. The order 412 relates to a particularorder (of bins) because the binarisation schema 500 (and some others)allows interleaving of binary elements.

An alternative syntax structure 420 of a largest coding unit (LCU) willbe described with the reference to FIG. 4B.

The syntax structure 420 includes a block 421 representing SAOinformation and a block 422 representing LCU structural, residual,prediction and other information. The block 421 contains blocks 423, 424and 425. Block 423 contains sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flagsyntax elements for the three channels. Block 424 contains sao_type_idxsyntax elements for the three channels encoded using the binarisationscheme 500. Block 425 contains sao_band_position, sao_offset_abs andsao_offset_sign syntax elements for the three channels.

The block 424 is formed of blocks 426 and 427. Block 426 contains threearithmetically encoded portions 428, 429 and 430 of sao_type_idx syntaxelements for the luminance channel and two chrominance channelscorrespondingly. Block 427 contains three bypass-encoded portions 431,432 and 433 of sao_type_idx syntax elements for the luminance channeland two chrominance channels correspondingly. Portions 431, 432 and 433are present only if the corresponding portions 428, 429 and 430 indicatetheir presence. The total bit length of the block 427 is determinedbased on the values of arithmetically encoded portions 428, 429 and 430.

An alternative binarisation scheme 520 for syntax element sao_type_idxis described below with the reference to FIG. 5B.

The binarisation scheme 520 comprises three arithmetically encodedbinary elements 521, 522, 523 stored in the stream 113 adjacently oneafter another. An exemplary binarisation 530 for sao_type_idx implementsthe binarisation scheme 520.

An alternative syntax structure 440 of a largest coding unit (LCU) willbe described with the reference to FIG. 4C.

The syntax structure 440 has a block 441 representing SAO informationand a block 442 representing LCU structural, residual, prediction andother information. The block 441 contains three blocks 443, 444 and 445.Block 443 contains SAO information for the luminance channel, and blocks444 and 445 contain SAO information for the two chrominance channels.The blocks 443, 444 and 445 have the same syntactical structure, so thatsyntax elements 446 to 451 shown on FIG. 4C for block 443 can be alsopresent in the blocks 444 and 445. Block 446 containssao_merge_left_flag syntax element. Block 447 contains sao_merge_up_flagsyntax element. Block 448 contains sao_type_idx syntax element binarisedusing binarisation scheme 520 with all bins encoded arithmetically.Block 449 contains sao_band_position syntax element. Block 450 containssao_offset_abs syntax element. Block 451 contains sao_offset_sign syntaxelement.

An alternative binarisation scheme 540 for syntax element sao_type_idxis described below with the reference to FIG. 5C.

The binarisation scheme 540 is formed of an arithmetically encodedportion 541 and bypass-encoded portion 542. Portion 541 contains onebinary element 543. Portion 542 has two bypass-encoded binary elements544, 545. Binary elements 543, 544, 545 uniquely identify eachsao_type_idx value. Binary elements 543, 544, 545 may be stored in thestream 113 either adjacently one after another or be interleaved withother syntax elements. An exemplary binarisation 550 for sao_type_idximplements the binarisation scheme 540.

An alternative syntax structure 460 of a largest coding unit (LCU) willbe described with the reference to FIG. 4D.

The syntax structure 460 has a block 461 representing SAO informationand a block 462 representing LCU structural, residual, prediction andother information. The block 461 contains three blocks 463, 464 and 465.Block 463 contains SAO information for the luminance channel, and blocks464 and 465 contain SAO information for the two chrominance channels.The blocks 463, 464 and 465 have the same syntactical structure, so thatsyntax elements 466 to 471 shown on FIG. 4D for block 463 can be alsopresent in the blocks 464 and 465. Block 466 containssao_merge_left_flag syntax element. Block 467 contains sao_merge_up_flagsyntax element. Block 468 contains sao_type_idx syntax element binarisedusing binarisation scheme 540 with arithmetically encoded portion 473and bypass-encoded portion 474 stored in an order 472, similar to thatdescribed above. Block 469 contains sao_band_position syntax element.Block 470 contains sao_offset_abs syntax element. Block 471 containssao_offset_sign syntax element.

An alternative syntax structure 480 of a largest coding unit (LCU) willbe described with the reference to FIG. 4E.

The syntax structure 480 is formed of a block 481 representing SAOinformation and block 482 representing LCU structural, residual,prediction and other information. The block 481 includes blocks 483, 484and 485. Block 483 contains sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flagsyntax elements for the three channels. Block 484 contains sao_type_idxsyntax elements for the three channels encoded using the binarisationscheme 540. Block 485 contains sao_band_position, sao_offset_abs andsao_offset_sign syntax elements for the three channels.

The block 484 includes blocks 486 and 487. Block 486 contains threearithmetically encoded portions 488, 489 and 490 of sao_type_idx syntaxelements for the luminance channel and two chrominance channelsrespectively. Block 487 contains three bypass-encoded portions 491, 492and 493 of sao_type_idx syntax elements for the luminance channel andtwo chrominance channels correspondingly.

A binarisation scheme 560 for syntax element sao_type_idx is describedbelow with the reference to FIG. 5D, and represents an example of atruncated unary implementation.

In the binarisation scheme 560 the maximum length of binarised sequence562 is determined as the number of possible distinct values of thesao_type_idx syntax element, minus one. For the case of six possiblevalues of the sao_type_idx syntax element, the maximum length ofbinarised sequence 562 is five. In the binarisation scheme 560 everysao_type_idx value is assigned a unique sequence 561 of arithmeticallyencoded “1” values 563 followed by an optional arithmetically encodedterminating “0” value 564. The sequence 561 can have length in rangefrom zero to the maximum length of binarised sequence 562. A terminating“0” value 564 is encoded only if the number of previously encoded “1”values 563 for a given binarised value is less than the maximum lengthof the binarised sequence 562. An exemplary binarisation 570 forsao_type_idx implements the binarisation scheme 560.

An alternative syntax structure 4100 of a largest coding unit (LCU) willbe described with the reference to FIG. 4F.

The syntax structure 4100 is formed of a block 4101 representing SAOinformation and a block 4102 representing LCU structural, residual,prediction and other information. The block 4101 is formed of threeblocks 4103, 4104 and 4105. Block 4103 contains SAO information for theluminance channel, and blocks 4104 and 4105 contain SAO information forthe two chrominance channels. The blocks 4103, 4104 and 4105 have thesame syntactical structure, so that syntax elements 4106 to 4111 shownon FIG. 4F for block 4103 can be also present in the blocks 4104 and4105. Block 4106 contains sao_merge_left_flag syntax element. Block 4107contains sao_merge_up_flag syntax element. Block 4108 containssao_type_idx syntax element 562 binarised using binarisation scheme 560.Block 4109 contains sao_band_position syntax element. Block 4110contains sao_offset_abs syntax element. Block 4111 containssao_offset_sign syntax element.

A binarisation scheme 580 for syntax element sao_type_idx is describedbelow with the reference to FIG. 5E.

In the binarisation scheme 580 the maximum length of binarised sequence582 is determined as the number of possible distinct values ofsao_type_idx syntax element minus one. For the case of six possiblevalues of the sao_type_idx syntax element the maximum length ofbinarised sequence 582 is five.

In the binarisation scheme 580 every sao_type_idx value is assigned aunique sequence 581 of “1” values 583 followed by an optionalterminating “0” value 584. In the binarisation scheme 580 all bins of abinarised value are bypass-encoded except the first T bins which areencoded arithmetically, where Tis a value in range from zero to themaximum length of binarised sequence 582 minus one. For the case of sixpossible values of the sao_type_idx syntax elements, the parameter T cantake any integer value in range from zero to four. The sequence ofbinary elements 581 and the binary element 584 may be stored in thestream 113 either adjacently one after another or be interleaved withother syntax elements.

An exemplary binarisation 590 for sao_type_idx implements thebinarisation scheme 580 with parameter T=2. The binarisation 590 has anarithmetically encoded first portion 591 and a variable length bypassencoded second portion 592. As will be seen from FIG. 5E, the firstportion 591 can have multiple bits and can include (for values 1-5) asecond bit that, when set (for values 2-5), indicates that the secondportion 592 will be present in the stream of video data.

An alternative syntax structure 4200 of a largest coding unit (LCU) willbe described with the reference to FIG. 4G.

The syntax structure 4200 is formed of a block 4201 representing SAOinformation and a block 4202 representing LCU structural, residual,prediction and other information. The block 4201 includes three blocks4203, 4204 and 4205. Block 4203 contains SAO information for theluminance channel, and blocks 4204 and 4205 contain SAO information forthe two chrominance channels. The blocks 4203, 4204 and 4205 have thesame syntactical structure, so that syntax elements 4206 to 4211 shownin FIG. 4G for block 4203 can be also present in the blocks 4204 and4205. Block 4206 contains sao_merge_left_flag syntax element. Block 4207contains sao_merge_up_flag syntax element. Block 4208 containssao_type_idx syntax element binarised using binarisation scheme 580 withall bins stored adjacently in an order 4212, as discussed above. Block4209 contains sao_band_position syntax element. Block 4210 containssao_offset_abs syntax element. Block 4211 contains sao_offset_signsyntax element.

An alternative syntax structure 4400 of a largest coding unit (LCU) willbe described with the reference to FIG. 4H.

The syntax structure 4400 is formed of a block 4401 representing SAOinformation and a block 4402 representing LCU structural, residual,prediction and other information. The block 4401 is formed of blocks4403, 4404 and 4405. Block 4403 contains sao_merge_left_flag andsao_merge_up_flag syntax elements for the three channels. Block 4404contains sao_type_idx syntax elements for the three channels encodedusing the binarisation scheme 580. Block 4405 containssao_band_position, sao_offset_abs and sao_offset_sign syntax elementsfor the three channels.

Block 4404 is formed of blocks 4406 and 4407. Block 4406 contains threearithmetically encoded portions 4408, 4409 and 4410 of sao_type_idxsyntax elements corresponding to the luminance channel and twochrominance channels. The maximum bit length of the block 4406 isdetermined by the value of the parameter T of the binarisation scheme580. Block 427 contains three bypass-encoded portions 4411, 4412 and4413 of sao_type_idx syntax elements for the luminance channel and twochrominance channels correspondingly. Portions 4411, 4412 and 4413 arepresent only if the corresponding portions 4408, 4409 and 4410 indicatetheir presence. The maximum bit length of the block 4406 is determinedby the value of the parameter T of the binarisation scheme 580 and bythe values of arithmetically encoded portions 4408, 4409 and 4410.

An alternative syntax structure 4600 of a largest coding unit (LCU) willbe described with the reference to FIG. 4I.

The syntax structure 4600 is formed of a block 4601 representing SAOinformation and block 4602 representing LCU structural, residual,prediction and other information. The block 4601 contains two blocks4603 and 4604. Block 4603 contains sao_merge_left_flag andsao_merge_up_flag syntax elements for the three channels, and block 4604contains other SAO syntax elements for the three channels such assao_type_idx, sao_band_position, sao_offset_abs, sao_offset_sign. Block4603 contains blocks 4606 and 4607. The block 4606 contains thesao_merge_left_flag syntax elements for the three channels, and block4607 contains the sao_merge_up_flag syntax elements for the threechannels. The block 4606 is present in the stream 113 only if the LCU isnot on the leftmost position in the frame. The block 4607 is presentonly if the LCU is not on the topmost position in the frame. The blocks4606 and 4607 can have a different order in the block 4603.

In an alternative implementation the sao_merge_left_flag syntax elementscan be grouped into a single block, while the sao_merge_up_flag can becoded separately for each channel.

Sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag syntax elements in syntaxstructures 400, 420, 440, 460, 480, 4100, 4200 and 4400 arearithmetically encoded. Probability modelling may be performed for eachof the three channels. The modelling can be performed eitherindependently for each channel, or the two chrominance channels may usea joint context model, or the three channels may use a joint contextmodel.

A method 600 of encoding an LCU data into the stream 113 will bedescribed with the reference to FIG. 6A. In an initial step 601,SAOinformation is encoded In another step 602,LCU structural, residual,prediction and other information is encoded.

An exemplary method 610 of encoding SAO information will be describedwith the reference to FIG. 6B. The method 610 may be used to implementthe step 601 of the method 600 to encode the blocks 401, 441, 461, 4101,4201 described above. The method 610 starts with step 611 where thesao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag values for the luminancechannel are encoded. Step 612 encodes sao_type_idx value for theluminance channel Step 613 encodes sao_band_position, sao_offset_abs andsao_offset_sign values for the luminance channel Step 614 encodessao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag values for the firstchrominance channel. Step 615 encodes sao_type_idx value for the firstchrominance channel. Step 616 encodes sao_band_position, sao_offset_absand sao_offset_sign values for the first chrominance channel. Step 617encodes sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag values for the secondchrominance channel Step 618 encodes sao_type_idx value for the secondchrominance channel Step 619 encodes sao_band_position, sao_offset_absand sao_offset_sign values for the second chrominance channel. The orderof the steps 611-619 may be altered as desired by any particularimplementation.

A method 630 of encoding sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flagvalues for a single channel will be described with the reference to FIG.6C. The method 630 may be used to implement steps 611, 614, 617 of themethod 610 to encode sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag syntaxelements in syntax structures 400, 440, 460, 4100, 4200, 4600 describedabove. The method 630 starts by step 631 which checks whether the LCU isat the leftmost position in the frame. If this condition is true thencontrol is passed to step 634, otherwise control is passed to step 632.The step 632 encodes sao_merge_left_flag into the stream 113. Step 633tests whether the value of sao_merge_left_flag equals one. If thiscondition is true, the control leaves the method 630. Otherwise thecontrol is passed to step 634. Step 634 encodes sao_merge_up_flag intothe stream 113. After this step the control leaves the method 630.

A method 640 of encoding sao_type_idx syntax element for a singlechannel will be described next with the reference to FIG. 6D. The method640 may be used to implement steps 612, 615, 618 of the method 610 toencode sao_type_idx syntax element in syntax structures 400, 440, 460,4100, 4200, 4600 described above. The method 640 starts by step 641. Thestep 641 checks whether sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag valuesfor the given channel are both equal to zero. If this is true then thecontrol is passed to step 642, otherwise the control leaves method 640.The step 642 binarises sao_type_idx value. Next, step 643 encodes thebinary representation of the sao_type_idx value into the stream 113.After the step 643 the control leaves the method 640.

A method 650 of encoding SAO information will be described with thereference to FIG. 6E. The method 650 may be used to implement the step601 of the method 600 to encode the blocks 421, 481, 4401, 4601described above. The method 650 starts with step 651 which checkswhether this is the leftmost LCU in the frame. If this is true thencontrol is passed to step 653, otherwise control is passed to step 652.Step 652 encodes sao_merge_left_flag values for the three channels. Thestep 653 checks whether this is the topmost LCU in the frame. If this istrue then control is passed to step 655, otherwise control is passed tostep 654. The step 654 encodes sao_merge_up_flag values for the threechannels. The step 655 encodes the arithmetically encoded portions ofsao_type_idx values for the three channels. The step 656 encodes thebypass-encoded portions of sao_type_idx values for the three channels.Next, step 657 encodes sao_band_position, sao_offset_abs andsao_offset_sign values for the three channels.

A method 660 of encoding sao_merge_left_flag values for the threechannels will be described with the reference to FIG. 6F. The method 660may be used to implement step 652 of the method 650 to encodesao_merge_left_flag syntax elements in syntax structures 420, 480, 4400,4600 described above. The method 660 starts by step 661 which encodessao_merge_left_flag value for the luminance channel. Next, step 662encodes sao_merge_left_flag value for the first chrominance channelNext, step 663 encodes sao_merge_left_flag value for the secondchrominance channel After this the control leaves the method 660.

A method 670 of encoding sao_merge_up_flag values for the three channelswill be described with the reference to FIG. 6G. The method 670 may beused to implement step 654 of the method 650 to encode sao_merge_up_flagsyntax elements in syntax structures 420, 480, 4400, 4600 describedabove. The method 670 starts with step 671. The step 671 checks whetherthe sao_merge_left_flag value for the luminance channel equals zero. Ifthis is true then control is passed to step 672, otherwise control ispassed to step 673. The step 672 encodes sao_merge_up_flag for theluminance channel. The step 673 checks whether the sao_merge_left_flagvalue for the first chrominance channel equals zero. If this is truethen control is passed to step 674, otherwise control is passed to step675. The step 674 encodes sao_merge_up_flag for the first chrominancechannel. The step 675 checks whether the sao_merge_left_flag value forthe second chrominance channel equals zero. If this is true then controlleaves the method 670, otherwise control is passed to step 676. The step676 encodes sao_merge_up_flag for the second chrominance channel Afterthis the control leaves the method 670.

A method 680 for encoding arithmetically coded portions of sao_type_idxvalues for the three channels will be described with the reference toFIG. 6H. The method 680 may be used to implement step 655 of the method650 to encode arithmetically coded portions of sao_type_idx syntaxelements in syntax structures 420, 480, 4400, 4600 described above. Themethod 680 starts with step 681. The step 681 checks whether thesao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag values for the luminancechannel are both zero. If this is true then control is passed to step682, otherwise control is passed to step 684. The step 682 binarisessao_type_idx value for the luminance channel Next, step 683 encodesarithmetically coded portion of the binarised value such as portion 428,488, 4408 into the stream 113. The step 684 checks whether thesao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag values for the firstchrominance channel are both zero. If this is true then control ispassed to step 685, otherwise control is passed to step 687. The step685 binarises sao_type_idx value for the first chrominance channel.Next, step 686 encodes arithmetically coded portion of the binarisedvalue, such as portion 429, 489, 4409, into the stream 113. The step 687checks whether the sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag values forthe second chrominance channel are both zero. If this is true thencontrol is passed to step 688, otherwise control leaves the method 680.The step 688 binarises sao_type_idx value for the second chrominancechannel Next, step 689 encodes arithmetically coded portion of thebinarised value, such as portion 430, 490, 4410, into the stream 113.

A method 690 of encoding bypass-coded portions of sao_type_idx valuesfor the three channels will be described with the reference to FIG. 6I.The method 690 may be used to implement step 656 of the method 650 toencode bypass-coded portions of sao_type_idx syntax elements in syntaxstructures 420, 480, 4400, 4600 described above. The method 690 acceptsinput of the binarised sao_type_idx values produced on the steps 682,685, 688 of the method 680. The method 690 starts with step 691. Thestep 691 checks whether the sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flagvalues for the luminance channel are both zero. If this is true thencontrol is passed to step 692, otherwise control is passed to step 693.The step 692 encodes bypass-coded portion of the value binarised on step682, such as portions 431, 491, 4411, into the stream 113. The step 693checks whether the sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag values forthe first chrominance channel are both zero. If this is true thencontrol is passed to step 694, otherwise control is passed to step 695.The step 694 encodes the bypass-coded portion of the value binarised bystep 685, such as portions 432, 492, 4412, into the stream 113. The step695 checks whether the sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag valuesfor the second chrominance channel are both zero. If this is true thencontrol is passed to step 696, otherwise control leaves the method 690.The step 696 encodes the bypass-coded portion of the value binarised instep 688, such as portions 433, 493, 4413, into the stream 113.

A method 6100 of binarising a sao_type_idx value using the binarisationscheme 500 will be described with the reference to FIG. 6J(1). Themethod 6100 may be used to implement the steps 682, 685, 688 of themethod 680 to binarise sao_type_idx values in syntax structure 420described above. The method 6100 may also be used to implement step 642of the method 600 to binarise sao_type_idx in syntax structure 400described above. The method 6100 starts with the step 6101. The step6101 checks whether given sao_type_idx value is estimated to be the mostprobable sao_type_idx value. If this is true then control is passed tostep 6102, otherwise control is passed to step 6103. The step 6102assigns the binary value “0” to the binary element 503 of the portion501. After the step 6102 the control leaves the method 6100. The step6103 assigns the binary value “1” to the binary element 503 of thearithmetically coded portion 501. Next, the step 6104 assigns a uniquethree bit binary code to the binary elements 504, 505, 506 of thebypass-coded portion 502. After this step the control leaves the method6100.

A method 6200 of binarising a sao_type_idx value using binarisationscheme 540 will be described with the reference to FIG. 6J(2). Themethod 6200 may be used to implement the steps 682, 685, 688 of themethod 680 to binarise sao_type_idx values in syntax structure 480described above. The method 6200 may also be used to implement the step642 of the method 640 to binarise sao_type_idx values in syntaxstructure 460 described above. The method 6200 starts with the step6201. The step 6201 assigns a unique three bit binary code to givensao_type_idx value. Next, step 6202 assigns one bit value of theassigned three bit code—usually based on the bit position, such as theleast significant bit—to the binary element 543 of arithmetically codedportion 541. Next, step 6203 assigns two remaining bits of the assignedbinary value to binary elements 544, 545 of the bypass-coded portion542. After this step the control leaves the method 6200.

A method 6300 of binarising a sao_type_idx value using binarisationscheme 580 will be described with the reference to FIG. 6K. The method6300 may be used to implement the steps 682, 685, 688 of the method 680to binarise sao_type_idx value in syntax structure 4400 described above.The method 6300 may also be used to implement the step 642 of the method640 to binarise sao_type_idx value in syntax structure 4200 describedabove. The method 6300 starts with step 6301. The step 6301 assigns aunique code length L in the range from zero to the maximum length LMAXof binarised sequence 582 to the given sao_type_idx value. Usually Lvalues are assigned so that a shorter L value is assigned to asao_type_idx value with a higher estimated probability. A parameter T isbeing used to determine the maximum length of arithmetically codedportion of the binarised value. Next, step 6302 checks if the numberONES of binary “1” values added to the sequence 581 is less than L, andif ONES is less than T. If both conditions are true then the control ispassed to step 6303, otherwise the control is passed to step 6304. Thestep 6303 adds an arithmetically coded binary “1” value 583 to thesequence 581. After the step 6303 the control is passed to the step6302. The step 6304 checks if ONES is less than T and if ONES is lessthan LMAX. If these conditions are true the control is passed to step6309, otherwise the control is passed to step 6305. The step 6309assigns arithmetically coded binary “0” value to the element 584. Afterthe step 6309 the control leaves the method 6300. The step 6305 checksif ONES is less than L. If this is true then the control is passed tostep 6306, otherwise the control is passed to step 6307. The step 6306adds a bypass-coded binary “1” value 583 to the sequence 581. After thestep 6306 the control is passed to the step 6305. The step 6307 checksif ONES is less than LMAX. If this is true then the control is passed tostep 6308, otherwise the control leaves the method 6300. The step 6308assigns a bypass-coded binary “0” value to the element 584. After thisstep the control leaves the method 6300.

A method 6500 of binarising a sao_type_idx value using binarisationscheme 560 will be described with the reference to FIG. 6L(1). Themethod 6500 may be used to implement the step 642 of the method 640 tobinarise sao_type_idx value in syntax structure 4100 described above.The method 6500 starts with step 6501. The step 6501 assigns a uniquecode length L in the range from zero to the maximum length LMAX ofbinarised sequence 582 to the given sao_type_idx value. Usually L valuesare assigned so that a shorter L value is assigned to a sao_type_idxvalue with a higher estimated probability. Next, step 6502 checks if thenumber ONES of binary “1” values added to the sequence 581 is less thanL. If this condition is true then the control is passed to step 6503,otherwise the control is passed to step 6504. The step 6503 adds anarithmetically coded binary “1” value 583 to the sequence 581. After thestep 6503 the control is passed back to the step 6502. The step 6504checks if ONES is less than LMAX. If this condition is true then thecontrol is passed to step 6505, otherwise the control leaves method6500. The step 6505 assigns arithmetically coded binary “0” value to theelement 584. After the step 6505 the control leaves the method 6300.

A method 6600 of binarising a sao_type_idx value using binarisationscheme 520 will be described with the reference to FIG. 6L(2). Themethod 6600 may be used to implement the step 642 of the method 640 tobinarise sao_type_idx value in syntax structure 440 described above. Themethod 6600 starts by the step 6601. At the step 6601 a unique three bitcode is assigned to the sao_type_idx value. Next, step 6602 assigns theassigned three bit code to the binary elements 521, 522, 523. After thisstep the control leaves the method 6600.

A method 700 of decoding LCU data from the stream 113 will be describedwith the reference to FIG. 7A. In step 701, SAO information is decoded.In step 702, LCU structural, residual, prediction and other informationis decoded.

A method 710 of decoding SAO information will be described with thereference to FIG. 7B.

The method 710 may be used to implement the step 701 of the method 700to decode the blocks 401, 441, 461, 4101, 4201 described above. Themethod 710 starts with step 711 where the sao_merge_left_flag andsao_merge_up_flag values for the luminance channel are decoded. Step 712decodes sao_type_idx value for the luminance channel Step 713 decodessao_band_position, sao_offset_abs and sao_offset_sign values for theluminance channel. Step 714 decodes sao_merge_left_flag andsao_merge_up_flag values for the first chrominance channel. Step 715decodes sao_type_idx value for the first chrominance channel. Step 716decodes sao_band_position, sao_offset_abs and sao_offset_sign values forthe first chrominance channel. Step 717 decodes sao_merge_left_flag andsao_merge_up_flag values for the second chrominance channel Step 718decodes sao_type_idx value for the second chrominance channel Step 719decodes sao_band_position, sao_offset_abs and sao_offset_sign values forthe second chrominance channel. The order or implementation of the steps711-719 may be varied depending upon the particular implementation.

A method 730 of decoding sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flagvalues for a single channel will be described with the reference to FIG.7C. The method 730 may be used to implement steps 711, 714, 717 of themethod 710 to decode sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag syntaxelements in syntax structures 400, 440, 460, 4100, 4200, 4600 describedabove. The method 730 starts at step 731 which checks whether the LCU isat the leftmost position in the frame. If this condition is true thencontrol is passed to step 734, otherwise control is passed to step 732.The step 732 decodes sao_merge_left_flag from the stream 113. Step 733tests whether the value of sao_merge_left_flag equals one. If thiscondition is true the control leaves the method 730. Otherwise thecontrol is passed to step 734. Step 734 decodes sao_merge_up_flag fromthe stream 113. After this step the control leaves the method 730.

A method 740 of decoding sao_type_idx syntax element for a singlechannel will be described next with the reference to FIG. 7D. The method740 may be used to implement steps 712, 715, 718 of the method 710 todecode sao_type_idx syntax element in syntax structures 400, 440, 460,4100, 4200, 4600 described above. The method 740 starts by step 741. Thestep 741 checks to determine whether decoding of sao_type_idx isrequired by checking whether the sao_merge_left_flag andsao_merge_up_flag values for the given channel are both equal to zero.If this is true then the control is passed to step 742, otherwise thecontrol leaves method 740. The step 742 decodes and de-binarisessao_type_idx value. After the step 743 the control leaves the method740.

A method 750 of decoding SAO information will be described with thereference to FIG. 7E. The method 750 may be used to implement the step701 of the method 700 to decode the blocks 421, 481, 4401, 4601described above. The method 750 starts with step 751 which checkswhether this is the leftmost LCU in the frame. If this is true thencontrol is passed to step 753, otherwise control is passed to step 752.Step 752 decodes sao_merge_left_flag values for the three channels. Thestep 753 checks whether this is the topmost LCU in the frame. If this istrue then control is passed to step 755, otherwise control is passed tostep 754. The step 754 decodes sao_merge_up_flag values for the threechannels. The step 755 decodes the arithmetically encoded portions ofsao_type_idx values for the three channels. The step 756 decodes thebypass-encoded portions of sao_type_idx values for the three channels.Next, step 757 decodes sao_band_position, sao_offset_abs andsao_offset_sign values for the three channels.

A method 760 of decoding sao_merge_left_flag values for the threechannels will be described with the reference to FIG. 7F. The method 760may be used to implement step 752 of the method 750 to decodesao_merge_left_flag syntax elements in syntax structures 420, 480, 4400,4600 described above. The method 760 starts by step 761 which decodessao_merge_left_flag value for the luminance channel. Next, step 762decodes sao_merge_left_flag value for the first chrominance channelNext, step 763 decodes sao_merge_left_flag value for the secondchrominance channel After this the control leaves the method 760.

A method 770 of decoding sao_merge_up_flag values for the three channelswill be described with the reference to FIG. 7G. The method 770 may beused to implement step 754 of the method 750 to decode sao_merge_up_flagsyntax elements in syntax structures 420, 480, 4400, 4600 describedabove. The method 770 starts with step 771. The step 771 checks whetherthe sao_merge_left_flag value for the luminance channel equals zero. Ifthis is true then control is passed to step 772, otherwise control ispassed to step 773. The step 772 decodes sao_merge_up_flag for theluminance channel. The step 773 checks whether the sao_merge_left_flagvalue for the first chrominance channel equals zero. If this is truethen control is passed to step 774, otherwise control is passed to step775. The step 774 decodes sao_merge_up_flag for the first chrominancechannel. The step 775 checks whether the sao_merge_left_flag value forthe second chrominance channel equals zero. If this is true then controlleaves the method 770, otherwise control is passed to step 776. The step776 decodes sao_merge_up_flag for the second chrominance channel Afterthis the control leaves the method 770.

A method 780 for decoding arithmetically coded portions of sao_type_idxvalues for the three channels will be described with the reference toFIG. 7H. The method 780 may be used to implement step 755 of the method750 to decode arithmetically coded portions of sao_type_idx syntaxelements in syntax structures 420, 480, 4400, 4600 described above. Themethod 780 starts with step 781. The step 781 checks whether thesao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag values for the luminancechannel are both zero. If this is true then control is passed to step782, otherwise control is passed to step 783. The step 782 decodesarithmetically coded portion of sao_type_idx binarised value, such asportion 428, 488, 4408, from the stream 113 for the luminance channel.The step 783 checks whether the sao_merge_left_flag andsao_merge_up_flag values for the first chrominance channel are bothzero. If this is true then control is passed to step 784, otherwisecontrol is passed to step 785. The step 784 decodes arithmetically codedportion of sao_type_idx binarised value such as portion 429, 489, 4409from the stream 113 for the first chrominance channel. The step 785checks whether the sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag values forthe second chrominance channel are both zero. If this is true thencontrol is passed to step 786, otherwise control leaves the method 780.The step 786 decodes arithmetically coded portion of sao_type_idxbinarised value, such as portion 430, 490, 4410, from the stream 113 forthe second chrominance channel.

A method 790 of decoding bypass-coded portions of sao_type_idx valuesfor the three channels will be described with the reference to FIG. 7I.The method 790 may be used to implement step 756 of the method 750 todecode bypass-coded portions of sao_type_idx syntax elements in syntaxstructures 420, 480, 4400, 4600 described above. The method 790 acceptsas input the portions of sao_type_idx values decoded on the steps 782,784, 786 of the method 780. The method 790 starts with step 791. Thestep 791 checks whether the sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flagvalues for the luminance channel are both zero. If this is true thencontrol is passed to step 792, otherwise control is passed to step 793.The step 792 decodes bypass-coded portion of the sao_type_idx value forthe luminance channel, such as portion 431, 491, 4411, from the stream113 and restores sao_type_idx value for the luminance channel. The step793 checks whether the sao_merge_left_flag and sao_merge_up_flag valuesfor the first chrominance channel are both zero. If this is true thencontrol is passed to step 794, otherwise control is passed to step 795.The step 794 decodes bypass-coded portion of the sao_type_idx value forthe first chrominance channel, such as portion 432, 492, 4412, from thestream 113 and restores sao_type_idx value for the first chrominancechannel. The step 795 checks whether the sao_merge_left_flag andsao_merge_up_flag values for the second chrominance channel are bothzero. If this is true then control is passed to step 796, otherwise thecontrol leaves the method 790. The step 796 decodes bypass-coded portionof the sao_type_idx value for the second chrominance channel such asportions 433, 493, and 4413 from the stream 113 and restoressao_type_idx value for the second chrominance channel.

A method 7100 of decoding from the stream 113 and de-binarising asao_type_idx value using binarisation scheme 500 with be described withthe reference to FIG. 7J(1). The method 7100 may be used to implementstep 742 of the method 700 to decode and de-binarise sao_type_idx valuein syntax structure 400 described above. The method 7100 starts with thestep 7101. The step 7101 decodes arithmetically encoded bin from thestream 113. Next, step 7102 check whether the decoded bin value is “1”.If this is true then the control is passed to step 7103, otherwisecontrol is passed to step 7104. The step 7103 decodes three bypassencoded bins from the stream 113. The step 7104 returns a sao_type_idxvalue that corresponds to the bins decoded on steps 7101, 7103 inaccordance with the binarisation scheme 500.

A method 7200 of decoding from the stream 113 and de-binarising asao_type_idx value using binarisation scheme 540 with be described withthe reference to FIG. 7J(2). The method 7200 may be used to implementthe step 742 of the method 740 to decode and de-binarise sao_type_idxvalues in syntax structure 460 described above. The method 7200 startswith the step 7201. The step 7201 decodes an arithmetically encoded binfrom the stream 113. Next, step 7202 decodes two bypass-encoded binsfrom the stream 113. Next, step 7203 returns a sao_type_idx value thatcorresponds to the bins decoded on steps 7201, 7202 in accordance withthe binarisation scheme 540.

A method 7300 of decoding and de-binarising a sao_type_idx value usingbinarisation scheme 580 will be described with the reference to FIG. 7K.The method 7300 may be used to implement the step 742 of the method 740to decode and de-binarise sao_type_idx value in syntax structure 4200described above. The method 7300 starts with step 7301. The step 7301resets to zero a counter ONECNT of decoded “1” values. Next, step 7302decodes an arithmetically encoded bin from the stream 113. Next, step7303 checks if the decoded bin value is “1”. If this is true thencontrol is passed to step 7304, otherwise control is passed to step7311. The step 7304 increments the ONECNT counter by one. Next, step7305 checks whether the ONECNT counter is equal to the maximum number Tof arithmetically coded bins for a binarised value. If this is true, thecontrol is passed to step 7310, otherwise the control is passed to step7306. The step 7306 check whether the ONECNT counter is equal to themaximum length LMAX of binarised sequence 582. If this is true, then thecontrol is passed to the step 7311, otherwise the control is passed tothe step 7302. The step 7310 checks whether the ONECNT counter is equalto the maximum length LMAX. If this is true, the control is passed tothe step 7311, otherwise the control is passed to step 7307. The step7307 decoded a bypass-coded bin. Next, step 730 checks whether thedecoded bin equals “1”. If this is true, the control is passed to step7309, otherwise the control is passed to the step 7311. The step 7309increments the ONECNT counter and passes the control to the step 7310.The step 7311 returns a sao_type_idx value that corresponds to theONECNT counter value in accordance with the binarisation scheme 580.

A method 7500 of decoding and de-binarising a sao_type_idx value usingbinarisation scheme 560 will be described with the reference to FIG.7L(1). The method 7500 may be used to implement the step 742 of themethod 740 to decode and de-binarise sao_type_idx value in syntaxstructure 4100 described above. The method 7500 starts with step 7501.The step 7501 resets a counter ONECNT of decoded “1” bins to zero. Next,step 7502 decodes an arithmetically encoded bin from the stream 113.Next, step 7503 checks whether the decoded bin equals “1”. If this istrue, the control is passed to the 7504, otherwise the control is passedto step 7506. The step 7504 increments the ONECNT counter by one. Next,step 7505 checks whether the ONECNT counter value is equal to themaximum length LMAX of binarised sequence 582. If this is true, then thecontrol is passed to the step 7506, otherwise the control is passed tostep 7502. The step 7506 returns a sao_type_idx value that correspondsto the ONECNT counter value in accordance with the binarisation scheme560.

A method 7600 of decoding and de-binarising a sao_type_idx value usingbinarisation scheme 520 will be described with the reference to FIG.7L(2). The method 7600 may be used to implement the step 742 of themethod 740 to decode and de-binarise sao_type_idx value in syntaxstructure 440 described above. The method 7600 starts by the step 7601.The step 7601 decodes three arithmetically encoded bins from the stream113. Next, step 7602 returns a sao_type_idx value that corresponds tothe values of bins decoded on the step 7601 in accordance with thebinarisation scheme 520.

A method 7700 of decoding from the stream 113 the arithmetically encodedportion 501 of a sao_type_idx value using binarisation scheme 500 willbe described with the reference to FIG. 7M(1). The method 7700 may beused to implement the steps 782, 784, 786 of the method 780 to decodearithmetically encoded portions 428, 429, 430 of sao_type_idx values insyntax structure 420 described above. The method 7700 starts with step7701 by decoding an arithmetically encoded bin from the stream 113.Next, step 7702 stores the decoded value in a storage locationaccessible to the step 7801 of method 7800 described below. After this,the control leaves the method 7700.

A method 7800 of decoding from the stream 113 bypass-coded portion 502of a sao_type_idx value using binarisation scheme 500 will be describedwith the reference to FIG. 7M(2). The method 7800 may be used toimplement the steps 792, 794, 796 of the method 790 to decodebypass-encoded portions 431, 432, 433 of sao_type_idx values in syntaxstructure 420. The method 7800 starts with the step 7801. The step 7801checks whether the value decoded on the step 7701 of the method 7700equals “1”. If this is true, then the control is passed to step 7802,otherwise the control is passed to step 7803. The step 7802 decodesthree bypass encoded bins from the stream 113. The step 7803 returns asao_type_idx value that corresponds to the bins decoded on steps 7701,7802 in accordance with the binarisation scheme 500.

A method 7900 of decoding from the stream 113 arithmetically encodedportion 541 of a sao_type_idx value using binarisation scheme 540 willbe described with the reference to FIG. 7N(1). The method 7900 may beused to implement the steps 782, 784, 786 of the method 780 to decodearithmetically encoded portions 488, 489, 490 of sao_type_idx values insyntax structure 480 described above. The method 7900 starts with thestep 7901. The step 7901 decodes an arithmetically encoded bin from thestream 113. Next, step 7902 stores the decoded value in a storagelocation accessible to step 7921 of the method 7920 described below.After this, the control leaves the method 7900.

A method 7920 of decoding from the stream 113 bypass-coded portion 542of a sao_type_idx value using binarisation scheme 540 will be describedwith the reference to FIG. 7N(2). The method 7920 may be used toimplement the steps 792, 794, 796 of the method 790 to decodebypass-encoded portions 491, 492, 493 of sao_type_idx values in syntaxstructure 480 described above. The method 7920 starts with the step7921. The step 7921 decodes two arithmetically encoded bins from thestream 113. Next, the step 7922 returns a sao_type_idx value thatcorresponds to the bins decoded on steps 7901, 7921 in accordance withthe binarisation scheme 540.

A method 7940 of decoding from the stream 113 arithmetically codedportion 591 of the sequence 582 will be described with the reference toFIG. 7O. The method 7940 may be used to implement the steps 782, 784,786 of the method 780 to decode arithmetically encoded portions 4408,4409, 4410 of sao_type_idx values in syntax structure 4400 describedabove. The method 7940 starts with step 7941. The step 7941 reset tozero a counter ONECNT of decoded “1” values. Next, step 7942 resets tozero a flag FINISHED indicating that a “0” value was decoded from thestream. Next, step 7943 decodes an arithmetically encode bin from thestream 113. Next, Step 7944 checks whether the decoded bin value equals“1”. If this is true, then the control is passed to step 7945, otherwisethe control is passed to step 7948. The step 7945 increments the counterONECNT by one. Next, step 7946 checks whether the value of the counterONECNT is equal to the maximum number T of arithmetically coded bins fora binarised value. If this is true, then the control is passed to step7949, otherwise the control is passed to step 7947. The step 7947 checkswhether the value of the counter ONECNT is equal to the maximum lengthLMAX of binarised sequence 582. If this is true the control is passed tostep 7949, otherwise the control is passed to step 7943. The step 7948sets the flag FINISHED to one. The step 7949 stores the values of theflag FINISHED and the counter ONECNT is a storage location accessible tothe steps of method 7960 (described below). After the step 7949 thecontrol leaves the method 7940.

A method 7960 of decoding from the stream 113 bypass-coded portion 592of the sequence 582 will be described next with the reference to FIG.7P. The method 7960 may be used to implement the steps 792, 794, 796 ofthe method 790 to decode bypass-encoded portions 4411, 4412, 4413 ofsao_type_idx values in syntax structure 4400 described above. The method7960 starts with step 7961. The step 7961 checks whether the value ofthe flag FINISHED set in the method 7940 is equal to one. If this istrue, then the control is passed to step 7966, otherwise the control ispassed to step 7965. The step 7965 checks whether the value of thecounter ONECNT is equal to the maximum length LMAX of binarised sequence582. If this is true, then the control is passed to the step 7966,otherwise the control is passed to step 7962. The step 7962 decodes abypass coded bin from the stream 113. Next, step 7963 checks whether thedecoded value is “1”. If this is true, then the control is passed tostep 7964, otherwise the control is passed to step 7966. The step 7964increments the counter ONECNT by one. The step 7965 checks whether thevalue of the counter ONECNT is equal to the maximum length LMAX ofbinarised sequence 582. If this is true, then the control is passed tothe step 7966, otherwise the control is passed to the step 7962. Thestep 7966 returns a sao_type_idx value that corresponds to the value ofthe counter ONECNT in accordance with the binarisation scheme 580.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The arrangements described are applicable to the computer and dataprocessing industries and particularly for the digital signal processingfor the encoding a decoding of signals such as video signals.

The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention,and modifications and/or changes can be made thereto without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the invention, the embodiments beingillustrative and not restrictive.

1. A method of decoding sample adaptive offset type information from areceived stream of video data, the method comprising: determining avalue in one bin of sample adaptive offset type information by decodingarithmetically encoded data from the stream of video data, thedetermined value in the one bin indicating whether sample adaptiveoffset is applied or not; determining a fixed length portion of thesample adaptive offset type information, the fixed length portion beingsubsequent to the one bin in the sample adaptive offset typeinformation, the fixed length portion being determined by decoding onlybypass-encoded data from the stream of video data if the determinedvalue in the one bin indicates that sample adaptive offset is applied,and the fixed length portion indicating edge offset type and 0-degree,90-degree, 135-degree, or 45-degree of edge offset type in a case wherethe sample adaptive offset type is edge offset type; and decoding thesample adaptive offset type information from the determined value in theone bin and the determined fixed length portion of the sample adaptiveoffset type information, the sample adaptive offset type informationbeing used to select one of 0-degree, 90-degree, 135-degree, or45-degree of edge offset type in a case where the sample adaptive offsettype is edge offset type, wherein the decoded sample adaptive offsettype information is for a largest coding unit.